OKC Thunder Game 4 report card: Kendrick Perkins' offense gets an 'A'

Big-man perimeter shooting: A. The Thunder's big men made eight of nine shots from beyond 15 feet. Sure, Serge Ibaka's 6-of-6 was most of that. But Nick Collison swished an 18-footer, and Kendrick Perkins made a 17-footer on the Thunder's second possession of the game and tried another on the next possession that barely rimmed out.

Oklahoma City's Kendrick Perkins (5) goes past San Antonio's Tim Duncan (21) during Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA playoffs at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Saturday, June 2, 2012. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

Scotty Brooks rotations: B. Brooks sensed that his big men were playing great and rarely went to the small lineup – it played only 2 minutes, 8 seconds and was outscored 7-4. Brooks also shortened his bench again and played just eight players, which is going to be necessary against the Spurs. But Brooks also let Thabo Sefolosha sit too long in the second half. Thabo played just nine minutes, and not coincidentally, the Spurs scored 60 points and shot 59 percent from the field after halftime. At one point, Brooks had both Russell Westbrook and Thabo on the bench. Playing any minutes without your two best perimeter defenders is not advisable against the Spurs.

Kendrick Perkins offense:A. Lost in Ibaka's monster game (26 points), Gran Torino scored 15 points and made seven of nine shots. Sometimes, we think he's not much of an offensive threat. Sometimes, he shows us he's not much of an offensive threat. But Perk has been big in the playoffs before. He once scored 18 points in a playoff game (2008 East finals, vs. Detroit). In 2009, Perkins averaged 13.3 points in a seven-game series against Chicago and 10.4 points in a seven-game series against Orlando and Dwight Howard.

Russell Westbrook: C. Westbrook had a spotty performance – seven points, giving him just 17 in the last two games, on 2-of-10 shooting. He had five assists but often looked frustrated in the offense, though he kept his turnovers down to three and played solid defense. The Thunder needs a better Westbrook in San Antonio.

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by Berry Tramel

Columnist

Berry Tramel, a lifelong Oklahoman, sports fan and newspaper reader, joined The Oklahoman in 1991 and has served as beat writer, assistant sports editor, sports editor and columnist. Tramel grew up reading four daily newspapers — The Oklahoman,...